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php|architect Live! Presents: Virtual REST Summit
Representational State Transfer—REST—is the stuff that modern APIs are made of. If you or your team use REST or are planning to use it for your projects, the php|architect Live! Virtual REST Summit will help you take your knowledge to the next level and fully understand what is so great about REST and what makes it the ideal choice for most web-based APIs.
We have gathered four presenters who are experts in HTTP and REST because they use it day in and day out in practical scenarios that range from actively used APIs to custom-built internal websites. They will draw on their practical knowledge to help you get the most out of REST:
- Start with the basics, “What is REST?” Understand that REST is not a technology, but a way to organize resources and act on them.
- Next, spend some time understanding HTTP, which is at the core of REST. Go beyond GET and POST and understand the full set of commands at your fingertips and the advantages that come with making full use of the infrastructure that powers the web.
- Next, we will look at the principles of REST, building on your newfound knowledge of HTTP to understand how REST leverages various web technologies to provide a highly performing API environment that is scalable and predictable. We’ll also explore key concepts, like Hypermedia and HATEOAS.
- Finally, we will close up with a look at practical REST implementations, with tips on getting up and running quickly and efficiently, regardless of whether you’re starting from scratch or adding a new API to an existing project.
When: July 30th, 2012, 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM Eastern Time
Where: Online
Talks
Grokking HTTP
Ben Ramsey
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the protocol of the Web. From static HTML pages to massive web services, everything we do as web developers has some relationship to this protocol. To effectively create services that use the Web, we need a deep understanding of HTTP. This talk goes beyond a surface understanding of GET and 200 OK to explore how an intimate knowledge of HTTP can lead to more efficient applications utilizing the Web in a RESTful way. We’ll cover topics such as content negotiation, hypermedia, caching, and conditional requests, as well as recent developments in efforts to update HTTP.
Building REST APIs Using FRAPI
Davey Shafik
Now you’ve got the theory, lets look at implementing it. Using FRAPI, the REST API Framework for PHP, we will explore how to implement APIs from scratch, as well as how to expose your legacy applications in a RESTful way.
Additionally, we’ll look at how to test your APIs so you can refactor, enhance and add new features without the fear of breaking your clients applications.
An introduction to REST
D. Keith Casey
Most people use “REST” as if it’s the winning term in buzzword bingo without any understanding of what it actually means. Companies implement pretty urls for their APIs and consider their “make API RESTful” task complete. Even when we’ve talked over and over about how to implement the key principles, we often leave out the explanation of “why?” In this session, we’ll take some time to go back to basics and discuss the benefits and potential of doing it the right way.
Making a Usable REST API
Kirsten Jones
Creating an excellent API means making something that’s usable and understandable for developers. You need to create a schema that makes sense, ways for developers to explore the API, and allow your developers to leverage existing libraries wherever possible. I’ll cover the resource maps for the LinkedIn and Netflix APIs as well as discussing the (less RESTy) selection languages each uses to allow developers to refine their queries.
Schedule
Important: the schedule will be published on June 25th.
| SLOTS* | TALKS |
|---|---|
| 12:00 – 12:50 | Grokking HTTP |
| 13:00 – 13:50 | An introduction to REST |
| 14:00 – 14:50 | Making a Usable REST API |
| 15:00 – 15:50 | Building REST APIs Using FRAPI |
* All times are in rEST.
